>> the nsa has been accused of spying on everyone from average americans to leaders around the world. there's word the agency has hacked google and yahoo, grabbing huge amounts of data. >> you deserve better. i apologize. i'm accountable to you for fixing these problems. >> secretary of health kathleen sebelius said the buck starts with her and promises to fix the federal health care website in a month you. >> thousands of babies die in this country because their mothers do not have access to adequate health care. some suggest obamacare may reverse that trend. >> the red sox are word champions! >> for the first time in more

than 90 years, the boston red sox win the world series in front of the fenway faithful. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm thomas drayden. there are no allegations of spying by the n.s.a. >> documents have been obtained showing the agency used the september 11 attacks to defend its surveillance policies. >> in the 26 page document, the n.s.a. suggested talking points for officials, including after 9/11, it was determined the intelligence community failed to connect the dots. n.s.a. and partners must make sure we connect the dots so that the nation is never attacked again like it was on 9/11. the n.s.a.'s first responsibility is to defend the

nation. >> erika has more on this story. what else have we learned from this document you? >> the document obtained through the freedom of information act contains dozens of talking points and suggested statements. they're supposed to be used by n.s.a. officials to defend the agencies actions and it appears those talking points made their way up the ladder to the man in charge of the n.s.a. >> how did we end up here? 9/11. >> testifying to congress on the surveillance controversy, n.s.a. director general alexander stuck to his script, laid out in a document of n.s.a. talking points exclusively obtained by aljazeera, calling on officials to defend spy tactics by suggesting 9/11 is the main reason behind the surveillance program, one heading reads:

>> there has not been a mass casualty here in the u.s. since 2001. that's not by luck. they didn't stop hating us. they didn't say that they were going to just forgive this. they continued to try. >> the document refers to 9/11 as somewhat of a turning point in the tactics used to fight terrorism, reading: >> the n.s.a. is under attack for collecting intelligence from ordinary americans to word leaders. now a new report from the washington post suggests the agency also secretly tapped into google and yahoo data centers around the world, giving the government access to hundreds of millions of user accounts. in a statement, google said:

>> the n.s.a. director fired back vehemently denying the report. >> this is not n.s.a. breaking into any databases. it would be illegal for us to do that, so i don't know what the report is, but i can tell you factually, we do not have access to google servers, yahoo servers, dot dot dot. we go through a court order. we issue has court order to them through the f.b.i. it's not millions, it's thousands of those that are done and it's almost all against terrorism. >> an italian magazine is also reporting this morning the n.s.a. intercepted millions of calls in and out of the vatican and the calls of the pope and his predecessor may have been monitored. the n.s.a. denies those allegations. >> the talking points you told

us about, isn't this a form of public relations. >> it's not uncommon for a government agency to put out talking points for their staff to talk about. in this case, the n.s.a. is speaking with one voice, and these particular talking points moved the focus toward security issues, focusing on keeping americans safe and that in turn deflects the discussion of privacy issues. >> erika, thanks. >> russia is dealing with a spying scandal of its own. multiple reports say russia is accused of using poisoned flash drives to spy on g-20 attendees last month. phone recharging cables and the drives were given to attendees. they were used to tap cell phones and email communications. a russian spokesman dismissed the allegation saying they are a clear attempt to divert attention from a problem that really exists, the u.s. spying.

>> three senior journalists of pleading guilt to phone hacking charges from the news of the world trial in london. the scandal led to the closing of the 168-year-old newspaper. >> a new worry about the federal health insurance website. republicans charge that healthcare.gov could compromise user's privacy. the addition is still on the defensive about its medical care program. the secretary of state got an earful while the penalty promoted it. we have more from washington. >> before there was obamacare, there was romney care, the massachusetts law that was a model for the affordable care act. visiting boston, president obama said the comparison still holds. >> because you guys had a proven

model that we built the affordable care act on this template. >> the president spoke in the same spot where mitt romney, his former rival signed the massachusetts law seven years ago. with many now having their existing health care plans canceled, even after he repeatedly promised they could keep them, the president now says they'll be happier with the new plan. >> if you're getting one of these letters, just shop around in the new marketplace. you're going to get a better deal. >> but for some, that deal could mean higher monthly costs than they paid under their old plan. >> will you go into the exchanges -- >> i -- >> if you can, will you? >> on capitol hill, republicans attacked the changes and person in charge of them, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius, who became the second top official in as many days to apologize for the healthcare.gov problems. >> hold me accountable, i'm responsible. >> the website wasn't secure and

data could be compromised. >> would you commit to shut down the system and do an end to end security test? >>ness. if you read the memo -- >> oh, i have read it. >> it says weekly testing including interface testing, daily, weekly, scans are going on. >> the launch have given the republicans momentum to gain their political footing. >> while the president was in massachusetts, mitt romney spoke out about how president obama's health care plan compares with the one romney signed. he aired his criticism on facebook, writing:

>> americans' view of president obama's job performance i now the lowest since he took office. according to a new wall street journal poll finds his approval rating has dropped to 42%. 51% surveyed disapprove of how he's doing his job. only 22% say the nation is heading in the right direction. democrats are viewed more favorably than republicans. 37% feel very positive or somewhat positive about the democratic party. that in that was 22% for republicans. >> americans' infant mortality rate is one of the words among the world's developed nations. each year in the u.s., 25,000 infants don't survive their first year because of premature birth or complications. america's global ranking, 46t 46th. infant mortality in the u.s. overall has been falling, but some states still struggle to prevent the deaths of babies.

alabama's rate has remained 20% higher than the national average. for the past decade, doctors at the university of alabama and birmingham say the affordable care act could change that and save some babies. we report. >> bailey davis has been lying in this incubator fighting for her life. she was born four months early and weighs less than two pounds at four monday old. >> i think maybe she won't be here when we come back in the morning, because she is so little and doesn't have as great a chance as full term babies. >> bailey is aerial's first child. the weeks ahead are crucial for her. bailey's chances are better, because her care is paid for by her grandfather's health insurance. in alabama, 419 babies died before they are first birthday, more than in years past. >> alabama's infant mortality rate is second only to the state

of mississippi, where last year, nine out of 1,000 babies born died. according to the alabama department of public health, a lock of insurance is one of the main contributors. >> this doctor heads the neonatal department at the university of birmingham. >> i do think it's the availability of prenatal care that is probably the bottom line. >> the alabama department of public health says women without health insurance had nearly 23 infant deaths per 1,000 births, more than twice that of mothers and infants who are custody. dr. toms believes obamacare will mean healthier mothers and children. it would be an improvement over medicaid, the government program that many poor people depend on. >> it can be a game changer for a relatively large amount of patients who do not have

insurance or feel they cannot afford insurance. >> in some of birmingham, alabama's poorest areas, like this housing project, poor heal, addiction and violence have been problems for decades. the same problems face other poor areas. this woman lives here, but lost a baby when living in a shelter. >> a lot of people need counseling and can't get it unless they have insurance. >> dr. tom's think insurance is key. >> i would say word of mouth, advertisement on television, ads in the newspaper, community housing, community workers, any available avenues. >> as two-week-old bailey hangs on to life, her mother believes

the only reason she has a chance in this word is because of insurance. >> right now, insurance is taking care of her and if we didn't have it, then i really don't know what we'd do. >> for now, family and medical professionals watch these tiny feet and hands closely, fighting to give this little girl a chance to live a long life. robert ray, aljazeera, birmingham, alabama. >> by 2010, the united states had a higher infant mortality rate than almost every other developed country in the world. it fared worse than south korea and cuba. >> hawaii is becoming the 15t 15th state where same-sex marriages will be legal. its state senate voted to repeal a ban on gay marriages. the vote came two days after the democratic governor called a special session to take up the issue. the bill must now go to hawaii's house of representatives where it is expected to pass. >> frenzy at fenway wednesday night for fans of the boston red sox. >> it hadn't happened at fenway

park for 95 years! the red sox are world champions. >> there you have it, boston clinched its third world series championship in the last 10 years with a 6-1 victory over the st. louis cardinals. ross shimabuku joining us now with the big night. >> i think they are still partying in boston. >> of course they are. >> historic night at fenway. the red sox. >> ross, it looks like we're having some problems with your mic, so we will try to get back to this. >> excitement. [ laughter ] >> in a little bit. >> let's talk about the weather, though, because we've been talking about the past several days about the severe weather. it slammed kansas on wednesday with heavy rains and winds just sweeping across the area. flooding was a major concern in that area, as you can see. look at this picture coming out of -- this is what? >> out of kansas. >> just amazing, we're seeing

hail and the severe storm. let's get more about that's going on in the national picture. >> >> today, we're not looking at as much severe weather across the country. you can see a a lot of moisture in the gulf. our focus is on the philippines. this is a storm making its way across the south china see and will push on into luzan later today. it's tracking about eight miles an hour and going to make its way across the northern philippine island later on today, damaging wind and heavy rain the major concern. >> back on the home front, it's very quiet across the atlantic, high pressure in control. it's a quiet day in the gulf of mexico. very different story from 1991. i don't know if you're familiar with the movie the perfect storm, but this system, really a

tropical storm, and hurricane combined with a nor'easter, with heavy rains and winds across the east coast. 12 people were killed and over $200 million of damage. this is a picture of the boardwalk. we're going to continue to watch -- we're looking at nice and calm conditions here today. look at temperatures across billings, a lot more comfortable than monday and tuesday. billings coming in at 39, but much warmer toward chicago. we have a lot of moisture pushing in off the gulf out of mexico. i'll tell you about the rain just a bit later in the show. >> all right. thank you. >> now we're going to turn back to ross shimabuku, who has a new mic on. >> take two, sometimes you swing and a miss understand baseball. >> boston did not miss last night. >> historic night at fenway, the red sox captured the title at home for the first time since

1918. their championships in 2004 and 2007 were clinched on the road. people in boston were going absolutely bananas. this has been an unbelievable journey. they lost 92 games last season, finishing last in the a.l. east. with a new manager, they added high character clubhouse leaders, shane victorino and jonny gomes. they are boston strong, playing for their city after the tragedy of the boston marathon bombings in april. it was a big old party in fenway. move over, because the red sox have gone from the out house to the penthouse in world series champions. the red sox captured their third championship in the last 10 years and the party spilled into the streets. one car was actually flipped over and at last count, nine

people arrested. the party will continue through the weekend, because the championship parade has been set for saturday. >> just celebrate and not do all that madness. >> aljazeera investigates sex crimes on college campuses. >> one woman shares her emotional story. >> it's like it wasn't happening to my body. i remember putting my hands up and saying no. >> the shocking percentage of sex assaults involving alcohol and what one woman is doing to keep others safe. >> a big city is making it tougher for teens to get cigarettes. why new york is changing the rules for selling tobacco products. >> the pope makes an impression with the youth. what he did when a 9-year-old refused to leave his side. >> wake up with the roma which coffee in your home. i'll tell you what's brewing.

>> good morning. welcome back. sexual behavior on college campuses has changed over the years, but what about the definition of consent. alcohol can cause dangerous situations. >> aljazeera speaks to one victim who hopes to show students ways to avoid making bad decisions. >> it never occurred to laura that a campus party could be a dangerous place. >> i was at the party, i was drinking and i was there with people, trying to get to know them. i got very, very drunk. it was about that time two men from my team started paying attention to me. >> laura was a student. she and the two men left together to head to the next party. >> they started walking me the wrong way. i remember saying, you know, that's not the direction of the party. i had had a few more shots they had given me before i left. they started walking me into an apartment that was very close. >> alcohol is the fuel in 50% of sexual assaults including rape.

it's like it wasn't happening to my body. i remember putting my hands up and saying no, i'm a virgin, please stop. >> laura dunn was a victim not only of rape but for a college campus that is very unhealthy for women and men. lin phillips studies students and sexuality. >> is there a hook up culture? >> people have been having sex in college. add to that, there's a huge pressure to drink and overdrink. if you're really, really drunk, you can't consent. you can't consent if you don't have the capacity. that's rape. >> a professor in class began talking about rape on campus. >> she said 20% to 30% of

victims report, which means 70% to 80% is silent. i realized in that class i was the silent group. the moment that class got up, i walked across the street and i reported very awkwardly that i'd been sexually assaulted. >> the university of wisconsin ultimately said that there was no way to determine what had really happened, since both parties were drinking. >> you grow up when you're a little girl and people warn you and say they'll protect you, but the reality is when it happens, people just kind of shrug and say well, you were drunk, what do you want us to do? >> laura said her experience led her to her path in life. she works to keep her others safe. >> those men who harmed me will never be locked away, but i can change the laws to hold others accountable. i think that's justice. >> sarah hoye, aljazeera, baltimore. >> you can see the final report in the special series tonight at 9:00 eastern. >> a change in the air soon in

new york city. no one under 21 will be allowed to buy cigarettes. the city council voted wednesday to recognize the minimum purchasing age by three years. the law will cover sales of tobacco products and e cigarettes, hoping to discourage smoking by young people. 3,000 american kids pick up the habit every day. >> if somebody's going to smoke, they're going to smoke. changing the age is not going to make a difference. drinking age is twenties one. that doesn't stop people from drinking. >> the measure goes to mayor mike bloomberg who said he will sign it. >> turning to business news, wall street waking up in a down mood. >> we have the latest financial headlines. good morning. >> good morning, thomas, stephanie. you can credit the down mood to uncertainty and not halloween. right now, stock futures are lower. that may mean more selling when the markets open.

stocks fell yesterday with that investors reacted to the fed chiefs announcement to maintain the program. the fed's decision shows the economy still needs support. the dow and s&p fell. the dow now stands at 15,600. the s&p is down a half% at about 1760. overseas, traders still trying to make sense out of it all, trying to figure out what the fed's decision means for them. european stocks are mostly lower right now and in asia, tocks are slumping, the nikkei down 1%, hong kong and shanghai in the red. if the fed indicating the economy is not showing improvement, one analyst says wall street could see a big time price drop. >> exuberance could take it higher, but the fact is the stock market is not being supported as a practical matter but fundamental matters, but by

exuberance by investors. >> the dow and s and p are up about 20%. >> bank of america is trying to prepare investors for the worst. the bank is warning stockholders a u.s. attorney's office is encouraging the justice department to sue it for about bad mortgage investments. the company says new york's attorney general is suggests it's going to file suit against the evasive subsidiary merrill lynch. the bank is bracing itself, saying potential losses could be up to $5 billion. >> there is tension in the friendly skies. american airlines and u.s. airways are trying to save their merger plans. the wall street journal reports both airlines may be willing to give up slots at reagan national airport in washington so the deal can go through. they would control two thirds of flights from the d.c. area airport if the deal goes through. the lawsuit merger is set to go

on trial next month. >> if you like mcdonalds coffee, you can soon brew it yourself at home. it's going to test sell its coffee at retail markets and outlets. >> facebook investors may feel a little queasy this morning after the stock market's basketball like up's and downs in premarket trading. the social network wowed investors wednesday after markets closed. the company said quarterly revenue increased 60% over last year. the stock price shot up almost 16% in after-hours trading, but started falling as soon as the company's leadership gave a less than encouraging report with investors. there's shakiness going on right now. >> what specifically about the facebook leadership say? >> there were two points made. the first and most critical is that usage among teens, daily log in rate is declining. that's big for the tech sector,

because those young customers really the bread and butter. the second thing that was almost encouraging, they said that usage through mobile interfaces, the revenue that comes from that is up. >> that's big within itself, isn't it? >> it's huge. two things to note here. one, 70% of people who engage facebook do so through smart phones and tablets, and only 49% of ad revenue came from mobile. there's room to go and hint at the future of our country. >> for other technology companies, as well. thanks so much. >> president obama is fiercely depending the affordable care act. >> while members of his administration apologize for the health care website shortfalls. democrats and republicans weigh in on whether obamacare can be saved. >> a village in norway installs massive mirrors on its mountainside. >> the nation's largest lands

fill is closing. where thousands of tons of trash 50 stories high will have to be moved. >> the boston red sox captured another world series championship. we'll have the sights and sounds from bean town in just a bit.

>> from our headquarters in new york, here are the headlines this hour. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> a deal in the senate may be at hand and just in the nick of time. >> thousands of new yorkers are marching in solidarity. >> we're following multiple developments on syria at this hour. >> every hour from reporters stationed around the world and across the country. >> only on al jazeera america.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm thomas ddrayden. kathleen sebelius got her chance to talk about what went wrong with healthcare.gov. >> she apologized repeatedly, promising the site will be made more user friendly. >> you deserve better. i apologize. i'm accountable to you for fixing these problems. >> she assured the panel that

health care dot.gov will be mixed by the end of november. >> there are problems with states that have health care markets. in colorado, some people are discovering they have to pay a lot more than those in other parts of the state. aljazeera's paul beban tells us why. >> leonardo, he doesn't want to use his full name is in the market for health insurance. he's come to the non-profit family and intercultural resource center in summit, colorado. >> health care gate jennifer is helping him navigate the state's new insurance exchange. >> you would qualify for a tax credit of about $362. >> summit has one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the state. he works part time at key stone resort and doesn't get health insurance through his job. resort communities like summit have long had higher insurance premiums than the rest of the country and so far, obamacare has done nothing to make i less

expensive. >> how many people have you enrolled here? >> so far, not one. thus far, everyone's taken a look at the rates and walked out the door. they just can't afford it. >> the higher you go in colorado, the more you're going to pay for health care. i'm crossing the continental divide, and my health care costs just went up 50%. >> colorado is divided into 11 rating areas, area 11 home toe summit and a few other resort counties has the state's highest premiums. right next door, areas one and three, boulder and denver one of the lowest. the congressman said summit belongs in area three. >> when people have illnesses that they can't deal with locally, they are very likely to come to the denver area for treatment. >> the map can't be redrawn until 2015. >> because the plans have been

certified, they've been looked at, calculated based on all the data for the entire state, so you can't just change one county and not affect another county down the line. >> she wants a waiver for summit county so people there don't have to pay the $95 penalty for not buying insurance before march 31, 2014. that's just a short term fix. the tougher question here at the top of colorado is whether the affordable care act will make health care costs truly affordable to the people who live here. paul beban, aljazeera, summit county, colorado. >> right now, 17 states are running their own health insurance exchanges. >> joining us to discuss the political impact of the house testimony by health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius, former chief of staff for senator joe man chen and former senior advisor to former president bush.

>> kathleen sebelius said there hadn't been enough time check the website. are apologize enough? let's start with you. >> the heads need to roll. this is a total incompetence and failure at its best. president obama when a candidate got the best and brightest minds to lead work pro bono to develop his campaign website, which was fantastic. where were the best and brightest of the private sector to create the president's premier legislative website? they were nowhere to be found. $400 million later, we have abusy malfailure by any standard. they didn't test it. they didn't even care at the white house to even have it presented before it came to the public. absolute disaster. >> does someone need to take

responsibility? frankly, even democrats aren't too happy right now. >> i don't think anyone is happy with the rollout and justifyifiably so. i think she has a small window to get it up and functional. >> it's not just the website. at this point, we're hearing stories about sticker shock and canceled policies. do you see we're seeing fundamental flaws you with the health care law? >> part of this is the unfortunate reality of the insurance marketplace. one of the consequences of now, you know, health care being so synonymous with the president through the affordable care act is, you know, people would lose their insurance all the time and they would have to go to new insurance, but now because of

the exchanges and the process, the immediate reaction is that's because of obamacare. part of that is true because the standards in terms of what the act requires is a minimum policy changed. they've improved, requiring better services, better coverage. >> their better, more expensive plans. >> exactly. the consequence of that is people in some cases will pay more. where the administration made a mistake was not being very clear that for the vast majority of people, they will get better and cheaper insurance, but there will be some examples where that may not be true. when you make a very clear distinction that one thing is going to happen and not the other as they did, you get political blow you know. >> you talk about the private insurance marketplace which is in theory conservative support. as sebelius was testifying, the president was touting the success of massachusetts's health care law and drawing on the similarities. do you think it's a fair comparison. >> it is not. it's totally different, what was did you in massachusetts than

what has been created by obamacare. you can fool some of the people some of the time, but now the president's promises, his complete promise to the american people, you can keep your doctor, affordable health care, the fact is that you're going to be able to keep your current insurance is not true. it's neither affordable -- >> most people will be able to keep it, because 95% of americans get their insurance through medicaid or through their employer. if there aren't similarities, republicans have tried to repeal the health care law now more than 40 times. do you think at some point, republicans will offer an alternative given that there seems to be some problems possibly with the affordable care act. >> we offered alternatives before the government shut down the government. the alternative was extend the individual mandate like you did the businessman date. we gave the president the perfect out. he wouldn't be in this predictionment if he took the republican deal. the fact of the matter is, the

president knew the failures of obamacare. he knew it back when he made his false promises, and now his chickens are coming home to roost and the american people seeing that the promises that were made are not the promises being kept and the president is going to have to address these issues. republicans have offered alternatives, we said get rid of these waivers, everybody should be treated equally, including the congress and an. if obamacare is good enough for you, it should be good enough for us. they carved out and exception for themselves and now unions asking for an exception. this can't work. >> i'm sure he wasn't aware of all the failures or he wouldn't have tied his entire presidential legacy on it. >> he should have been. >> democrats came out victorious of a the budget shutdown, they were so united. it seems democrats may face challenges politically. do you think that they will take a hit because of the problems we're seeing with the affordable care act. >> i would say we would if the other side wasn't in sane.

i mean, when you have a republican party that basically sets themselves on fire every time there's a potential problem in the country, that is not necessarily something that's going to attract moderate, independent swing voters. that's why i think the republican party took such a beating with both the default, the debt ceiling talks, as well as the budget talks. the problem i would say that brad has and republicans have, put aside the fact that the individual mandate was a republican conservative idea, put aside the fact that the solution they offer basically are how do we delay and undercut or destroy the affordable care act. you cannot deal with such a significant problem affecting the country unless you have real, credible, viable solutions. now at the end of the day, here's what i think. >> i hope to have you both back with us, because there's certainly a lot more to talk about, but for now, thank you to both of you for joining us. >> pakistan is cutting half the

number of civilians they say were killed by u.s. drone strikes. the pakistani defense ministry said 3% of those who died in the strikes were civilians, 67 of the nearly 2300 deaths were not combatants. previous estimates were at nearly 6%. the change in the total is provoking anger. activists say pakistan's government cooperated on some of the attacks. the prime minister is asking president obama to stop the attacks. >> syrians are pouring into neighboring countries to escape the violence in their homeland but when reaching the bored many are told to turn back, they are not welcome. amnesty international said jordan and several other countries are tightening security. there are indications that these countries are closing crossing points without notice, stranding thousands of refugees on the syrian side of the border. jordan, lebanon, at youree, iraq and egypt are now dealing with

more than 2 million refugees of the syrian war. >> syria's chemical weapons factories have been destroyed, according to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. for more, we're joined by aljazeera's correspondent. good morning. what have been some of the biggest challenges on the ground? >> well, they are operating in a war zone, and have said that this is the most challenging mission ever undertaken by the organization. the inspectors there visited 21 sites out of 23 sites declared by syria. two sides, the inspectors were not able to reach to because of

safety and security concerns. now, of course, syria declared those two sides as abandoned and moved some items there to another location where the inspectors did finally check and they are satisfied that syria now is no longer able to produce any chemical weapons. >> the group has a string of deadlines, very tight deadlines for specific tasks aimed at ridding syria of its chemical weapons. what's the next one for the team? >> syria has met two deadlines. the next milestone is november 15, the detailed plan needs to be approved provided by the syrian government to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile. this is the hardest bit in the whole process, because we are talking about an estimated

100,000 metric tons of chemical stockpile. >> certainly not an easy task. thank you. >> now ross shimabuku is here with sports. of course. >> the boston red sox. >> there's that. are they having a parade? >> yeah, on saturday, set for saturday. it's been 95 years since the red sox clinched the world series fight at fenway. the championships in 2004 and 2007 were secured on the road. it was a hair raising experience for the band of bearded brothers. over 38,000 fans were rocking the house at fenway. my fellow hawaii islander shane victorino started the party in the third because with the bases loaded, pounds it off the green monster. three runs would score and the flying hawaiian is jacked up, because that was his first hit of the world series. he missed the last two games with a back injury. in the fourth, steven drew getting into the aloha spirit.

the red sox would take a commanding 6-0 lead. in the ninth, mat carpenter strikes out as the red sox win 6-1. let the celebration begin. for the first time in 10 years, the red sox are champions. >> the big question coming into game six surrounded big pappy. he had a .733 batting average. the question, would the cardinals continue to give him pitches to hit and if they didn't, can the red of the lineup step up no the cardinals walked him three times. it didn't matter, because the red sox had reinforcements. shane victorino and mike napoli didn't play much in st. louis but were in the lineup here and combined for five r.b.i. to lead

the red sox to the world series title. >> still trying to take all this in. you know, when the fireworks went off at the presentation of the trophy, when the ballpark was filled with smoke, it was completely surreal. to be in this position, given where we've come from, you know, reflecting back a year ago at this time, there's been a lot that's happened in 13 months. you know, ben deserves all the credit in the world for what he has done to this roster, the players he brought in and most importantly to the players. to come in and see the energy and commitment that they had, the buying into a team concept every single day and the one thing that really stands out more than anything is just their overall will to win and that was mo nor evident than this entire postseason. >> when nobody gives any, winning the world series is special. it might have been more special than all the world series i have been a port of, to be honest

with you. >> perhaps there was too much history going against the cardinals. they become the 10th team in the last 11 seasons to win the world series after winning game one. a year after a last-placed 93 loss season in which the red sox were a team that only a mother could love, everyone in boston loves them, because they are your 2013 world series champions. from boston, i'm john henry mitt, aljazeera. >> it's mind boggling to think what happened, going from worst to first and now world series champion. >> saturday's going to be insane. >> a cold town in norway said let there be light. >> so there was. aljazeera's nicole johnson has more on the town that created giant mirrors to escape the shadows. >> when you live in the shadow of a mountain, winter is cold and dark. a village in norway isn't letting nature dictate these

things. it set up huge mirrors to reflect the sun down into the valley below. it's still chilly, but at least it's bright. >> fantastic. i'm fascinated. i never thought it would be this good. >> the idea has been around for a long time. >> 100-year-old idea is now realized. congratulations on the sun mirror in a municipality where the impossible is now possible. >> the glow can be as bright as the sun. >> it turns out that we are affected when there is no sun here, then suddenly you get sunlight. in addition, it will become a tourist attraction and be good for people who live here. you can now take a trip to the marketplace and bask a little. >> that means people here may now need sunglasses to get them through the winter. nicole johnston, aljazeera. >> charlie manuel. >> a severe storm system is

hitting the middle of the country from cincinnati to houston. >> it's nothing like the perfect storm that slammed the northeast 22 years ago today. we have a look at the past and present. good morning. >> good morning, thomas. we are talking about the 1991 storm that actually did not get a name, known as the halloween perfect storm. here's a look at what it looked like on the radar satellite imagery back in 1991 as it made its way clues the atlantic. today, it's quiet, but this storm killed 12 people back in 1991, produced plentiful amounts of snow across the northeast and across the atlantic portions of canada and down across the east coast, we had heavy rainfall. we're going to continue to monitor the atlantic basin, but today, thankfully, it's quiet. so is the gulf of mexico. the largest storm is making its way across the plains into the midwest. this is a photo of the coastline after that storm, really did make a major impact in 1991.

today, it's quiet for the most part across the east coast. we had rain pushing in from the midwest to portions of cincinnati down into texas where the rain is coming down. heavily this morning around the houston area. to the north, some storms produced blinding downpours yesterday from oklahoma on into portions of texas. you can see no of those images coming to us from yesterday, blinding down, visibility diminished to a half mile. we want folks no use precaution on the roadways. we have flash blood warnings and advisories into eastern texas today. >> thank you. >> 13,000 tons of trash are dumped each day into landfills, the size of new york's city's central park. >> now that dump is closing. what has to be done with all the garbage that's piled up for more than 60 years.

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

>> seven pounds, that's how much trash every american produces each day, about 69% of that ends up in our nation's landfills.

the largest of them all is smack in the middle of los angeles. it's collected garbage for more than 60 years, but today set to close. >> all this trash tells a story. >> what are we walking on right now? >> we are walking over at least 50 stories of trash. >> all dumped here, the nation's largest landfill. it rivals new york central park in size and is so large, it jeb rates its own wind patterns. it also sits like an enormous eyesore quail in the middle of three residential communities. >> 13,000 tons of trash gets dumped here every single day. it is loud, it is messy, it is smelly. this is the exact reason why the residents living nearby want it shut down. >> they're about to get their

wish. the landfill's operating permit has expired and the dump is done. homeowner mike hughes is a happy man. >> it's closing, and it's all good now. [ laughter ] >> the smells are going away. the dust is going away. the noises are going away, and it's something that we've wanted for a long, long time. >> at the time, it was state-of-the-art and has stayed state-of-the-art technology, but in an environment like los angeles, these are a thing of the past. there's no way politically or even room wise that we could ever build another landfill like this in a setting like this. >> which is why this place becomes even more important. this is a massive recycling center that will continue to operate. from sorting to stacking, plastic, paper, cans, all set to be recycled. hopes is more centers like this one will be the future, and

landfills like this one will be the past. >> when you look at what we're doing and where this industry's going to go, these are dinosaurs. still, the trash that's been coming every day for the past 60 plus years has to go somewhere. eventually, it will all be trucked some 200 miles away to blythe, california. >> doesn't the crash then just become another neighborhood's problem? doesn't the whole idea of not in my back yard just proof from this community to another community? >> absolutely, and unfortunately, the way those types of decisions are made, it follows the path of least resistance. >> when landfills shut down like this and they have to go further away, there's a cost to that. it's hauling it, which is very expensive, and the environmental impact. >> still resident mike hughes is more concerned with the lasting impact right here at his home. >> all of that trash has filled

in the canyons and where we used to have three beautiful canyon, if you were to look up there, all you're going to see is a manufactured hillside from a very sell fish perspective, we are just glad to see our trash go away and go someplace else. >> the trash may be going, but it's definitely not gone. the discarded pieces of people's lives will simply because another massive mountain of trash in another community. >> that was jennifer london reporting. here's what we're following this morning. aljazeera has obtained a document telling n.s.a. officials to use 9/11 as a talking point to defend the agencies surveillance activities. >> president obama talks about up the affordable care act after health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius goes to congress and apologize's for the health's website problems. >> the boston red sox are the champs, beating the st. louis cardinals for their third title

since 2004. >> dwight howard living large, superman has his debut with the rockets. >> rain on the way to the midwest and texas. the details in a few minutes. >> cubans are living on $20 a month and the u.s. embargo of the island is partly to blame. >> it's the greatest humanitarian crisis you may not have heard of, the democratic republic of congo, the government is finally turning the tide on rebels accused of atrocities. >> aljazeera america continues in just two minutes. >> del walters is up next.

>> new accusations against the n.s.a., the spy agency now accused of hacking into google and yahoo accounts around the world. >> president obama playing defense over his affordable care act, even turning to a former opponent to strengthen his case. >> a major accomplishment for syria as a watchdog group says its met a key deadline for destroying it's declared chemical weapons sites. >> that's, like i said, i'm not going to answer anything right now. >> this is a story straight from a hollywood script as a powerful california lawmaker now finds himself the target of a federal corruption probe.

>> welcome to aljazeera america, i'm del walters. it has happened again. there are new revelations again about spying by the national security agency, aljazeera has exclusively obtained secret n.s.a. documents that show how the agency used the september 11 terrorist attacks to defend its surveillance policies. it is a 26 page playbook that is full of talking points for official use. some of the references to september 11 include. >> that language was mimicked by the head of the n.s.a. testifying before congress earlier this week. >> there has not been a mass casualty here in the u.s. since

2001. that's not by luck. they didn't stop hating us. they didn't say that they were going to just forgive this. they continued to try. >> also this morning, the washington post now reporting that the n.s.a. broke into the servers of google and yahoo overseas. during an interview wednesday, the n.s.a. directorial exsander denying that his agency has access to those servers. >> i can tell you factually, we do not have access to google servers, yahoo servers. we go through a court order. we issue that to them through the f.b.i. >> google executives expressing outrage saying they have long

been concerned about justice type of snooping. yahoo says we have not given access to our data centers to the n.s.a. or any other government agency. phil ittner is live in london. this is exactly what there were concerns about. we hear reports that british intelligence is very concerned about the potential back lash. tell us their concerns. >> absolutely, del, there's been apparently a long-standing concern within general communications headquarters, or g.s.h.q., that if this were brought to light that there would be issues with privacy, perhaps broken laws, now there is a court case that's being put forward in the european court of human rights rewarding surveillance of phones and emails, so the g.c.h.q. perhaps had good reason to be concerned

about that. it's interesting to note this has been on their radar for quite some time, well before the edward snowden revelations, phil. >> the n.s.a. paid them $160 million to spy on the british public, essentially asking them to do their dirty work. are we looking a the a situation that compares to rendition in the intelligence community where one country breaks the allow of another all in the name of in this instance keeping the u.s.a. safe. >> that might be the way that the n.s.a. has skirted around these issues, because they are in lock step with g.c.h.q. they worked well in hand, the two of them. there are an awful lot of monitoring stations here in the u.k., one run by the n.s.a. itself up in yorkshire. it's said to be the largest facility in minwith hill, the largest in europe. the g.c.h.q. and n.s.a. work

hand-in-glove together and have a special relationship and share intelligence, so maybe it's not the n.s.a. monitoring american citizens, maybe it's the g.c.h.q. and they can do it under british law, so a little bit of a roundabout way of doing things, phil. >> again, phil ittner joining us from london on these exclusive documents obtained by aljazeera. >> edward snowden has a new job, his lawyer said he has found a tech support job. he has been living in the former soviet republic since august. the lawyer didn't name the company. he is set to start tomorrow. >> if you're getting one of these letters, just shop around in the new marketplace. you're going to get a better deal. >> president obama in boston on wednesday addressing the concerns of americans who are now getting those cancellations from their medical insurancers. he stood where mitt romney

signed the massachusetts health care law seven years ago, the president saying massachusetts also had bumped along the way but it eventually became a success. while responding to the mis, mitt romney went to facebook to attack the president's health care law, writing: >> president obama actually learned the lessons of health care in massachusetts, millions more would not see their prices skyrocket and it would not have been a frustrating embarrassment. romney's remarks attracted more than 11 million likes on the networking site. >> kathleen sebelius got her chance to explain what went wrong. the healthcare.gov glitches were

explained, she apologized, saying that the site would be made for user friendly. >> let me say directly to americans, you deserve better. i apologize. i'm accountable to you for fixing these problems. i'm committed to earning your confidence back. >> she assured the panel that the website would be fixed by the end of november. >> some states running their own health care exchanges are also having problems. in colorado, some are finding they have to pay more, sometimes a lot more than people who live in other parts of their state. aljazeera explains. >> leonardo, he doesn't want to use his full name is in the market for healed insurance.

>> health care gate jennifer is helping him navigate the state's new insurance exchange. >> you would qualify for a tax credit of about $362. >> summit has one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the state. he works part time at key stone resort and doesn't get health insurance through his job. resort communities like summit have long had higher insurance premiums than the rest of the country and so far, obamacare has done nothing to make it less expensive. >> how many people have you enrolled here? >> so far, not one. thus far, everyone's taken a look at the rates and walked out the door. they just can't afford it. >> the higher you go in colorado, the more you're going to pay for health care. i'm crossing the continental divide, and my health care costs just went up 50%. >> colorado is divided into 11 rating areas, area 11 home to summit and a few other resort counties has the state's highest premiums. right next door, areas one and

three, boulder and denver one of the lowest. the congressman said summit belongs in area three. >> when people have illnesses that they can't deal with locally, they are very likely to come to the denver area for treatment. >> the map can't be redrawn until 2015. >> because the plans have been certified, they've been looked at, calculated based on all the data for the entire state, so you can't just change one county and not affect another county down the line. >> she wants a waiver for summit county so people there don't have to pay the $95 penalty for not buying insurance before march 31, 2014. that's just a short-term fix. the tougher question here at the top of colorado is whether the affordable care act will make health care costs truly affordable to the people who live here. paul beban, aljazeera, summit county, colorado.

>> right now, 17 states are running their own health insurance exchanges. >> syria has met a major deadline. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons says it has now destroyed all declared chemical weapons production facilities under the disarmament agreement and time table. syria had to destroy all of those by december 1. that target has been met. omar, there are a series of deadlines to be met. how important was this latest one? >> it was very important, because syria has met two deadlines, but what i fear is that the easiest part is over and the testifiest to start, phase three. it involves the destruction of syria's chemical stockpile and we're talking about and estimated 1,000 metric tons of

chemical weapons. now the new deadlines for that is that syria has already submitted a man to destroy the stockpile. it needs to be approved by november 15. the whole destruction process could take up to next year by the end of june. >> omar, there seemed to be no problems meeting this first deadline, that next deadline coming up in two weeks. they have to destroy their chemical weapons. does the international community believe that's going to happen on time? >> yes, well, this was -- the inspectors were operating in a war zone. this was the most challenging mission in the history of the opcw. they went to 21 of 23 sites. the two remaining sites were not

inspected because of you the safety and security concerns. they removed some of those items from that site to another site where the inspectors managed to verify those items, so it's very complicated and tough, but it's now over, at least phase one and two. >> aljazeera reporting from istanbul, turkey. omar, thank you very much. >> it appears that the number of people killed by drone strikes in pakistan may have been overestimated. the pakistani defense ministry now says 67 civilians were killed by those drones, about half the number another agency reported earlier this year. in all, more than 2,000 people have been killed by those u.s. drone strikes that were targeting suspected al-qaeda fighters in pakistan. last week, pakistan's prime minister urging president obama to stop those attacks. >> severe weather in the mid went and southern plains causings problems in the region.

>> it's the same system that actually produced all of the snow across the sierra on monday into tuesday. take a look at this temperature map behind me. you can see the cooler air really across the west concentrated there, but the front is on the move. where you can see the major differences in temperature perhaps from memphis and houston back to denver, that's where the front is situated pushing toward the east, bringing down quite a bit of rain right now across portions of texas. houston area, strong thunderstorm rolled through in the last hour. you can see indicated here by the pops of yellow and red on the screen here. this front is going to continue to really push towards the east. in the meantime, it's producing heavy downpours. that's the reason we have flash flood watches and warnings in effect. the threat for severe weather extending from houston back toward memphis and indianapolis. halloween, a lot of kids are going to be out here tonight. i'm sure if you have any plans

outside later on this evening, you need to use precaution especially in the afternoon into the evening, damaging winds, hail and a chance for a few isolated tornadoes exist from indianapolis all the way down into hawn, texas. now for the most part, we're looking at mostly cloudy overcast skies across much of the northeast right now. later in the day, high winds are going to be a problem. i'll tell you a little bit about that later on in the show. >> for the first time since 2004, the boston red sox are the 2013 world series champions. >> it hasn't happened at fenway park for 95 years! the red sox are word champions! >> the red sox won the series in six games with say 6-1 victory over the st. louis cardinals. despite they're recent winning ways, the red sox haven't clinched a world series at fenway park since 1918. david ortiz selected as the

series m.v.p., big papi reaching base 19 times in 26 at-bats. we'll have more highlights from the game. they are still celebrating in boston. >> still ahead, terror in the square. police in china labeling that crash as a terrorist attack. >> l.a. looking to prevent cyber attacks, a look at the new command center to thwart hackers. >> we'll tell you about the stunning fall from grace, this man, a brazilian oil tycoon who once said he was the richest man in the world now faces bankruptcy. >> millions of americans will see their food stamps cut tomorrow. i'll tell you why that could impact all of us. >>

>> chinese police are calling that deadly car crash near beijing a terrorist attack. five people including two tourists were killed, five suspects under arrest. the victims died when a car

exploded. police say that knives, gasoline and other items were found inside. authorities are not blaming any one group but suggest that the suspects may be members of the muslim group that's been battling chinese security forces for years. >> the train tunnel off to a bumpy start. power outages and reports of passengers pressing emergency buttons wednesday led to riders getting off to walk the long tube, linking the european and asian sections of istanbul. that tunnel is expected to carry 1.5 million people each and every day, connecting those two continents in about four minutes. >> batista of brass still wanted to be the richest man in the world, pouring his foreign into oil drilling. his entire empire collapsed, just filing for bankruptcy. we have more on what is shaping

up to be the largest business failure in brazil's history. >> until last year, batista was a brash multi-billionaire, a symbol of the boom years, worth $35 billion. he said he would make history by becoming the first brazilian to become the world's won'tiest man, instead, his business o.g.x. has made a different kind of history. unable to pay off an estimated $4 billion to $5 billion in debt to creditors and banks, the company has filed for bankruptcy protection. analysts say it's one of the largest bankruptcy filings every in south america. >> he was the seventh richest man in the world, but it really was a largely paper fortune. i mean, he managed to raise a lot of money from people, but he put all that money back into the companies, and his wealth was basically his investments in those companies, and when the companies went bad, he borrowed money against those investments

and when the tock price fell, the banks wanted their money back. >> o.g.x. didn't produce 1% of what it should have, creating a very serious problem, because the money was running out. this area requires a return on investment and the money kept running out and investors saw this as a problem. as a result, the company con no longer pay its short term obligations. the dream is over. >> what's left of that dream can be seen in bautista's once ambitious emspire based in rio de janeiro. his company headquarters vandalized during recent city protests has never been radar. this unfinished building purchased by batista, he promised to refurbish it into an ultra luxurious five star hotel in time for the world cup next year. it now is up for sale, signs of

more to come for bautista. >> it is more than 10 companies he owns in brazil but was his showcase enterprise. it was the one company that was supposed to bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in profits, which we now know will never materialize. it could bring down his entire business empire. we hear that another of his companies, a.s.x., an offshore marine supply and logistics company is suffering and it also could file for bankruptcy as early as next week. >> since o.g.x. was a company with only a few hundred employees built on promise, but not much else, its fall will have little effect on brazil's economy. but the same can't be said for bautista's image, badly tarnished as he tries to salvage the little he has left. >> the former race car driver has seen his fleet of planes and

helicopters sold. investors are trying to recoup shof the $20 billion they gave him. >> business news, wall street waking up in healing mood on halloween. >> some investors are trying to lock in profits now, when you look at the bigger picture, we're actually at the end of a pretty good month on wall street. right now, futures lower, stocks fell yesterday. investors were less than enthusiastic about the fed's decision to keep the stimulus program as-is. no one is denying the cheap money policy, but maintaining the bond buying program shows the economy still needs support. the dow stands at 15,600 now. the s&p dropped a half percent and closed at 1760. overseas, traders still trying to make sense of the fed's decision. european stocks are mostly lower right now.

in asia, stocks are slumping, tokyo's nikkei down 1%. hong kong and shanghai in the red, as well. fed policy makers are still concerned about the slow recovery and the jobs market. they are not alone. >> the higher-wage paying jobs created in september, in almost all categories that saw job creation, including construction, by the way, saw a drop in wage rates, which is a very bad sign. >> we'll learn more about the jobs picture shortly with the release of the weekly jobs figures. next month, we'll get the key october report. sony is having trouble selling televisions. much of the loss is due to weakness in the t.v. business. sony is the latest consumer electronics maker to see its t.v. operations hurt by smaller rivals. >> for the first time in five years, the u.s. government has run a budget deficit below

$1 trillion. treasury secretary jack lew said it totals $36 billion. it is the smallest imbalance since 2008. >> retailers like wal-mart are bracing for changes in food stamp spending. tomorrow, a temporary boost in the program to help lower income americans expires. a family of four will have to live on $36 less in food stamps each month, and with more than 47 million americans in the program, that translates into $5 billion a year that it will be dropping from consumer spending. wal-mart estimates 24% of all food stamps are spent in its stores. we'll of mor have more an real .

>> officials say the u.s. government will soon start to coordinate efforts at the federal level to attract foreign investment. >> what exactly is going to be different about this particular initiative? >> right now, the government will try to help these smaller states and cities. oftentimes, they're trying to do it themselves, pitching, execute deals and frequently are at a disadvantage to larger states and other countries. with this new program, the government hopes to actually boost chances of success and also, more importantly, direct some economic development to some areas of our country that may be more depressed. >> people at home right now are saying jobs, jobs, jobs, does it mean jobs? >> it's the big j. that's what people want, these jobs. the president hopes to direct more production here in the united states, and we're expecting him to make that pledge later today. >> thank you very much. >> that giant mystery barge

floating in san francisco bay, some speculate could be google's next big thing. it's now caught the attention of the u.s. coast guard. they've signed a no one disclosure agreement with the internet search giant. we take a closer look at all the secrecy behind the barge. >> silicon valley won't stop talking about it. it looks like a big box sitting offshore between oakland and san francisco. it's a barge, covered up, fenced in and guarded 24 hours to day, seven days a week, and really reveals the role google plays in this town. anything it does sparks excitement. >> we visited some of the city's start ups at the offices of rocket space to find out what people in the industry think about the mystery project. >> it's kind of like the talk of the town right now, right? initially when it was this kind of discovery that google was working on, this barge offshore treasure island, my initial thought was maybe some sort of

glass retail store, like everyone else was kind of speculating. >> i'm more on the side of the data center, because it makes sense for google, they need a lot of computing power. the floating center could be moved near the place with the computing power is needed. >> it's probably some sort of data center. the reason i say that is because i remember back in the day around 2005, google was rumored to have these little containers that were basically like trucks, they would position in around the country to reduce latency for their service. >> google's innovations lead the industry. the generous budget for research and development, every engineer is encouraged to pursue pet projects, means this latest venture could be about anything. the secret is bi-coastal. the popular guess is that it's a

floating data center, using ocean waters as a coolant. we won't know whether that explanation holds water for sometime to come. aljazeera, san francisco. >> coming soon to a city near you. nobody knows for about what the structure is. the coast guard is keeping a close eye on the project. >> standing firm, the n.s.a. said there hasn't been a terror attack since 9/11, but was he using prepared talking points when he testified before congress. >> the crisis in africa known by many as the forgotten conflict, steps being taken to end the violence plaguing the democratic republic of the congo. >> in sports, a hair-raising experience for the boston red sox capturing another world series championship. we'll have all your sights and sounds from bean town in just a bit. what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it on the stream.

>> social media isn't an after-thought, it drives discussion across america. >> al jazeera america's social media community, on tv and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. >> post, upload and interact. >> every night share undiscovered stories.

(vo) tomorrow night ... >> does the nsa collect any type of data on millions of americans? >> no sir. (vo) fault lines investigates what it's like to live under the watchful eye of the nsa. >> they know everything that you do, everything that you think, everything that you fear. they know how to manipulate and control you. the state has all the power. >> we have done more to destroy our way of life than the terrorists could ever have done.

>>, to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. there are new revelations this morning in connection with the nsa spying controversy. this document obtained exclusively by aljazeera contains dozens of talking points, among them showing how the agency used the september 11 attacks to defend its surveillance programs. it appears that those talking points made their way all the way up the ladder to the man in charge of the n.s.a. >> how do we end up here no 9/11. >> testifying to congress on the surveillance controversy, n.s.a. director general keith alexander stuck to his script laid out in a document of n.s.a. talking points. they called on n.s.a. officials to defendant government spy tactics suggesting 9/11 is the main reason behind the surveillance program. one quote that comes under the

sub heading sound bytes that resonate heeds: >> there has not been a mass casualty here in the u.s. since 2001. that's not by luck. they didn't stop hating us. they didn't say they were going to just forgive this. they continued to try. >> the document refers to 9/11 as somewhat of a turning point intactics used to fight terrorism, reading:

>> it is suggested that the agency tapped into google and agencies around the world. google said in a statement: >> >> this is not n.s.a. breaking into any databases. it would be illegal for us to do that. i don't know what the report is, but i can tell you factually, we do not have access to google servers, yahoo servers. we go through a court order, issue that to them through the f.b.i. it's not millions. it's thousands of those that are done, and it's almost all against terrorism. >> while the n.s.a. says surveillance serves to protect the country, some americans don't buy it, calling on congress to protect their privacy. aljazeera. >> now an italian magazines

reports that the n.s.a. intercept's millions of calls coming in and out of the vatican, possibly listening in on the phone conversations of the pope. the n.s.a. is denying that, as well. >> it has taken 18 months for the democratic republican of the congo to deal with the last strong hold. aljazeera was with soldiers on the final assault. >> day breaks. it's time to fight. rockets fired at the rebels boosts morale. the soldiers have a long way to go, still holding a 25-kilometer

stretch of road, at the end a loft rebel strong hold on the border with uganda. >> i'm cleaning my gun, because i want to go might f23. they are not strong. our mission is to chase them over the border. thank you. >> they don't know what resistance they'll find on the way. they soon find out. some are terrified. most just keep moving forward. between firefights, they're well received in the village. >> if the government takes it back, all of our relatives who are refugees can come back. under m23, it was very tough. >> it's time to resupply. the confidence gross.

then, another gun battle, again, the rebels flee. they were trying to defend this bridge, and they tried to burn it to stop tanks from passing. the strategy failed. the advance gathers momentum. on the outskirts of the town, there's just a handful of rebels left. they're seen off by a blast of heavy machine gunfire by the soldiers. >> finally, they reach the town. it's almost completely deserted, all the civilians have fled. you can hear gunfire just in the hills. the commander here says it's over, they've taken the last rebel strong hold. doesn't mean that the rebels can't hide and still cause more trouble, but this was the last town that they had control of. [ cheering ] >> minutes later, the street is

flooded with delighted residents. the rebels weren't popular here. people say they stole, killed and raped. after more than a year living under their rule, there's a sense of relief and celebration. malcolm webb, aljazeera in the democratic republica re. of congo. >> joining us is a political science professor and expert on the d.n.c. from columbia university's bernard college. a lot of people suggest that the world has blood on its hands when it comes to the congo, livingston and the belgium and the practice of slaves hands cut off. are we finally now starting to see an end to that bloody era in the d.r.c. >> i wish, but i'm afraid we are not. there is still as you can see in the reporting, there is still a lot of violence continuing and

very, very little done to end the violence right now. >> this is often referred to as the forgotten conflict, 5 million people killed since 1998, millions before that. why is it forgotten? why did the world not pay attention? >> it's very differ to answer that question. as you say, it is one of the deadliest conflicts since world war ii, if not the deadliest conflict. it is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. it has destabilized africa for 20 years. the conflict rarely makes the headlines. there is very little diplomatic engagement, very little help or assistance to the congalese people. >> the congo is the heart of

africa, rich in every natural resource. is that what is fueling these conflicts, it has diamonds, uranium, everything a nation should need. it should be the wealthiest nation in africa and yet is not. >> it should be, but natural resources are not what are primarily fueling the conflict. natural resources are a source of funding for some of the armed grooms, providing most of the resources for a few armed groups, but there are not the main source of funding for the main rebel group fighting right now, the m23 that was just talked about. only one among many sources of funding for the armed groups. >> there are ways you indicate that you also have to ask who is supplying these particular people in these conflicts with their weapons? is this a situation now where the arrival of the u.n. is going to make a difference no some say it will, some say it doesn't. >> the u.n. has been here for 15

years already, so we're not talking about the actual arrival of the u.n. we're talking about the arrival of an intervention force, a force that is actually going on the offensive against various rebel groups, and it's too early to tell, but it is making a difference. >> what are the consequences for this crisis should it come to an end? will that mean a much stronger, a better africa as a continent as a whole? >> it would mean a much more stable africa. it would mean an end to the destabilization of rwanda, uganda and of course of the congo as a whole. it would also mean a more prosperous africa, because trade would resume between various parts of the continent, so it would be a fantastic news for africa. we are not there yet. it is just a battle that has been won. we shouldn't forget that the humanitarian crisis, the war is

not coming to an end, it's just one battle that has been won. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you so much for have iting me. >> she is the expert on the congo at columbia university's bernard college. >> we want to tell you about news that just came in. a 6.7 magnitude earthquake striking taiwan, being felt across many parts of the country. local reports say that ceiling panels fell at taiwan's international airport. there are no reports of injuries. earlier this morning, there were two earth quakes measuring at least a magnitude of five that struck northeast china, injuring 10 and damages thousands of homes there. >> in addition to that earthquake, we're watching another typhoon forming in the asia pacific region. for more on that, we turn back to our meteorologist. >> we'll continue to monitor closer. right now, the storm is making its way north northwest 14 miles

an hour bar relying toward the island of the philippines, luzan. it's going to skirt the north of the country, bringing heavy rain. it could skim pores of taiwan and bring heavy rain there, too on the islands there across the straight. because it's not going to make a major impact and weaken that much once it pushes on land, we are expect the storm to redevelop into the equivalent of a category two hurricane as it pushes toward vietnam in the next several days. this is a picture taken from outer space of the storm, you can see the eye is very well defined in the outer rain bands, as well. it's going to bring heavy rain to portions of taiwan, also do you know into luzan as well. across the atlantic basin, it's quiet. in 1991, this is a satellite picture of the perfect storm. this storm made landfall across the northeast of the u.s., bringing heavy rain. it brought a great deal of snow across pourings of atlantic

canada, causessing $200 million worth of damage and killed 12 people. today, a very quiet story across much of the northeast, but we do have rain on the way. look at the temperatures, they are above normal, 65 in new york, 73 in d.c. later today, that's expected to be our daytime highs. we have a cold front making its way across the midwest, bringing rain across eastern and southern portions of texas. currently, the rain is spilling on into the midwest, essential into cincinnati into indianapolis and also across portion of memphis. heaviest of the rain across texas right now, but later in the day, we have the threat for damages winds, hail and chance for a few isolated tornadoes from houston to cincinnati. flood warnings in effect, traveling i-10, i-35, use cautions. we have high wind warnings in effect. if you are out and about, use precaution on the roadways.

>> ross shimabuku here now with sports. he says he's buying chowder for everybody. >> they are celebrating in bean town as we speak. red sox are partying like nights 1918, because it's been 95 years since the red sox clinched a world series title at fenway. championships in spore and between were on the road. over 38,000 fans rocked the house at fenway. shane victorino got the party started in the third, because with the bases loaded, the point-pounder pounds it off the green monster. three runs would score. he is jacked up, because that was his first hit of the world series. emissioned the last two games in st. louis with a back injury. in the fourth, steven drew getting into the alo has spirit, unloads a rainbow to right field, that finds the pot of gold, the red sox take a commanding 6-0 lead. in the ninth, seals the deal,

striking out mat carpenter as the red sox beat the cardinals 6-1. let the celebration begin, because for the third time in 10 years, the red sox are world series champions. david ortiz named your world trees m.v.p. our m.v.p. john henry smith has more. >> the big question coming into game six of the world series surrounded big papi. he has a .733 batting average. the question, would the cardinals continue to give him pitches to hit and if they didn't, could anyone else in the red sox lineup step up? >> as it turned out, the cardinals walked him three times, but it didn't matter. the red sox had reinforcements. shane victorino and mike napoli didn't play much in st. louis but were in the lineup in game six in boston and combined for five r.b.i. to lead the red sox to the world series title. >> still trying to take all this in. you know, when the fireworks

went off, when the ballpark was filled with smoke, it was completely surreal. to be in this position, given where we've come from, you know, reflecting back a year at this time, there's been a lot that's happened in 13 months. you know, ben deserves all the credit in the world for what he has done to the roster, the players he brought in and most importantly for the players. to come in and see the energy and commitment they had, the buying into a team concept every single day and the one thing that stands out more than anything is just their overall will to win and that was no more evident than this entire postseason. >> when nobody gives any thoughts, when this world series is special. i think it might be the most special out of all world series i have been a part of. >> perhaps there was too much history going against the cardinals, and they become the 10th team in the last 11

seasons to win the world series after winning game one. a year after a loft placed 93 loss season, in which the red sox were a team that only a mother could love, everybody in boston loves them, because they are your 2013 world series champions. >> from boston, i'm john henry smith, aljazeera. >> that's the great thing about sports. when one season ends, another begins in the nba, and all eyes are on quite howard who made his debut with the rockets. superman looking for a treasure start in houston after a drama filled season with the lakers. he signs a contract. the big man dominating down low against the charlotte bobcats. he tied a career high grabbing 26 rebounds, while slamming home 17 points. jeremy lin scored 16 and had that pretty dish to howard. james harden from arizona state also sharing the alley-oop to

superman. james racked up 28 points as the rockets would hammer the bobcats 96-83. houston tried to do what boston did to win a world championship. the boston fans are going to celebrate saturday for the championship parade, so nobody has to play hooky. >> the united states calls for an end to the embargo in cuba. the growing isolation the country faces over the blockade. >> what the federal government now cases a california man of doing. this is what we do... al jazeera america

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

>> nations around the world are condemning another u.s. policy, the beyond nations urging the u.s. to end its embargo that cuba. the only country that supported the u.s. this time was israel, 188 countries at the u.n. voting against it. foreign minister of cuba describing the economic blockade

as barbaric and damaging to the nation. the average salary in cuba, $22 a month. that began in 1960. backers say it's all about human rights. joining us now is juan carlos delgado in washington, d.c. the u.s. in 1960 said the embargo was about human rights. castro no longer the dominant figure he once was and most americans can't even remember the cuban missile crisis. why is the embargo still in place? >> well, it's hard to think about more counter productive foreign policy than the u.s. embargo. here we have 180 plus nations in the united nations voting against a country who's supposedly the beacon of liberty around the world in favor of a ruthless brutal dictatorship because of the the embargo.

i cannot think of a policy that has served the opposite purpose of the goal towards cuba. i mean, after 50 years of the embargo in place, cuba is not any closer to becoming a democracy than in 1960, so i think it's pretty clear that it is an utter failure. >> this is the 22nd year in a row the u.n. voted on this issue. last year, three voted in favor of the sufficient, this year only two, israel being the second. is the u.s. growing more and more isolated on this issue and what does it signal? >> the tiny island of paolo was the other country that voted last year in favor of the united states. i think the embargo is quite the useful tool for the cuban regime. look at what's going on. it helps the cuban regime to rally the entire world behind them and against the united states. it also serves as an excuse for

the cuban regime to blame the embargo for the sorry state of the cuban economy, so i don't think that it will help anyone in cuba to keep this embargo. it's one of the most counter productive foreign policies that washington has in place. >> when fidel castro handed power to his brother, did that hurt the u.s. efforts when it comes to the embargo in cuba or is it something else? >> this is actually the 22n 22nd time the general assembly has voted against the embargo. this has been going on for a while. the latin american nations has been growing in certain years and the embargo the dominant issue between the u.s. and latino relations. the u.s. is seriously considering maybe skipping next year's summit of the americas in panama because latin america

nations threaten to bring cuba to the summit. if the u.s. were to remove the embargo and travel ban to cuba, these issues wouldn't be on the table anymore and maybe we'll have a discussion rights about human rights in cuba, about bringing democracy to the island. again, because of washington's stubbornness, the number one issue rewarding cuba i guess the embargo and not the political situation on the island. >> thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> a powerful earthquake, a powerful california lawmaker, excuse me now the target of a federal corruption. a member of a prominent political family is caught up in an f.b.i. sting. we have more from aljazeera's investigative unit. >> >> los angeles, a city where

fame and infamy go hand-in-hand. here, everything seems larger than life, including its politicians. this is one of california's most influential lawmakers and the target of an ongoing federal investigation. the senator is for sam, a politician willing to influence in exchange for money. as part of a sting, f.b.i. posed at film makers, approached the senator and allegedly paid him off. >> they had to establish bank accounts. they needed a business license, and so it's a very extensive, lengthy operation. >> senator calderone wanted his family added to the payroll. according to the affidavit, he

told undercover agents any help you can do for my kids, that's diamonds for me. the agents hired his daughter, paying her almost $30,000 and she never had to show up for work. at the world famous pebble beach resort, the senator attended a fund raiser for his brother's non-profit, californians for diversity. the greens were lined with influential lobbyists. calderone is still rubbing elbows and raising money. >> what street are you on now? >> the embattled senator declined to comment. we caught up with him arriving at another five star resort. >> excuse me, senator calderone? >> yes. >> josh bernstein from aljazeera, how are you? >> good. >> we hoped to ask you questions about your on going legal problems. >> i'm here for a conference. i'm not going to discuss that. >> are you going to resign if you're indicted? >> he has been a star in california politics for more

than a decade, but in the end, he may be best remembered for falling hard for an elaborate undercover sting. >> as of now, calderone has not been charged with any crime with that the after also accuses him of accepting bribes from a southern california hospital executive, insuring the changes in state law would not affect lucrative spinal infusion surgeries performed at a clinic in long beach. >> that will do it for this edition. as always, you can check us out 24 hours a day at aljazeera.com. the news continues there 24 hours a day.

(vo) al jazeera america we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. (vo) we pursue that story beyond the headline, past the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capitol. (vo) we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. (vo) and follow it no matter where it leads, all the way to you. al jazeera america. take a new look at news.

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

>> hello, welcome to the news hour. we have the top international stories. satisfied and verified, the world's chemical weapons watchdog said syrias facilities for producing chemical weapons have been destroyed. >> an exclusive report from the democratic represen re. of congo. a town retaken, that was held by rebels. >> taxing times for the super rich